Abu Dhabi Education Council: A Guide to ADEC

According to their website, ADEC’s vision is to: “develop education and educational institutions in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, implement innovative educational policies, plans and programs that aim to improve education, and support educational institutions and staff to achieve the objectives of national development in accordance with the highest international standards.”

In short, they govern public schools, private schools, and higher education institutions in Abu Dhabi to ensure that students receive the best quality tuition.

One of the tools which ADEC uses to achieve their vision above is to inspect and rate private schools in order to ensure the quality remains up to their standards. This was originally started in 2008 with a pilot program. All private schools in the emirate of Abu Dhabi were inspected between 2009 and 2011 after the pilot phase was completed successfully.

A team of inspectors who are all curriculum experts will visit a school for three to five days.

The schools are rated according to the following performance standards:

• Performance Standard 1: Students’ achievement
• Performance Standard 2: Students’ personal and social development and their innovation skills
• Performance Standard 3: Teaching and assessment
• Performance Standard 4: Curriculum
• Performance Standard 5: The protection, care, guidance and support of students
• Performance Standard 6: Leadership and Management

These areas are judged according to a 6-point scale from very weak to outstanding. The final results are then combined to issue a summary report with a band rating.

The band ratings are as follow:

• Band A: High Performing
• Band B: Satisfactory
• Band C: In need of significant improvement

There are three customer service centers spread across the emirate. One is located in Abu Dhabi, one in Al Ain and the last in Al Dhafra.

You can contact one of these centres either by calling them on the toll free line of the Government of Abu Dhabi (800555) or by sending an email to [email protected].

Else you can visit them at one of these addresses:

ADEC HQ
P.O. Box: 36005, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Tel Number: +971 2 615 0000
Fax Number: +971 2 615 0555

School Operations Sector – Building C
P.O. Box: 70713, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Tel Number: +971 2 6653000
Fax Number: +971 2 6659994

Al Ain Office
P.O. Box: 1008, Al Ain, UAE.
Tel Number: +971 3 7635000
Fax Number: +971 3 7632006

Al Dhafra Office
P.O. Box: 50011, Al Gharbia, UAE
Tel Number: +971 2 8933333
Fax Number: +971 2 8847568

All service centres are open Sunday – Thursday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

The Customer Service Centers can help you with

• Information
• Transaction support
• Submitting suggestions or complaints